Aarhus Air Raid facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Aarhus Air Raid |
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| Part of World War II | |||||||
 Damaged barracks near Aarhus University residence halls, bombed on 31 October 1944 |
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| Belligerents | |||||||
 United Kingdom |
 Germany |
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| Strength | |||||||
| 24 bombers 1 reconnaissance air craft |
Various anti-aircraft defences 1 light cruiser |
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| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 1 aircraft destroyed 1 aircrew interned |
Gestapo offices destroyed German barracks heavily damaged 39 German agents and officers killed 20 German soldiers killed |
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| ~10 Danish civilians killed 1+ Danish civilian wounded 1 Danish prisoner killed |
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The Aarhus Air Raid happened on October 31, 1944. During this event, 25 Mosquito planes from the Royal Air Force (RAF) bombed the main offices of the Gestapo (Germany's secret police) at the Aarhus University in Denmark. After World War II, the RAF called this mission one of their most successful during the war.
Contents
Why the Raid Happened: A Background Story
During World War II, German forces took over Aarhus, a city in Denmark. They set up their main offices for the Jutland area inside the Aarhus University. They used student dorms as their headquarters and stored important files there. The Gestapo, led by Eugen Schwitzgebel, was based in these buildings. Other German intelligence groups were also there.
The Danish Resistance Faces Trouble
The summer and autumn of 1944 were very hard for the Danish resistance movement in Jutland. This was a group of brave Danes secretly fighting against the German occupation. In December 1943, a British paratrooper named Jakob Jensen was caught by the Gestapo in Aarhus. He was questioned, and unfortunately, he gave away information about the resistance groups. This led to many groups being broken up and 145 people being arrested.
Another big problem for the resistance was Grethe Bartram. She was hired by the Gestapo in early 1944 to be an informant. Bartram told the Gestapo about 50 resistance members. This caused many resistance groups in and around Aarhus to be shut down by the Germans.
A Call for Help from the Resistance
On October 7, 1944, the Gestapo arrested Ruth Phillipsen. She was a messenger who worked directly for the leaders of the Jutland resistance. Vagn Bennike, the resistance chief in Jutland, immediately called an urgent meeting. They talked about attacking the Gestapo headquarters themselves, but decided it was too risky.
Bennike then sent an urgent message to his contacts in London. He asked them to destroy the university dorms where the Gestapo was located. He wrote that the resistance in Jutland was "about to be torn up by the Gestapo."
The British leaders looked at the situation carefully. On October 26, 1944, they sent a reconnaissance plane to check out the area. After this, they made plans for the attack. The date for the raid was set for October 31, 1944.
How the Attack Was Planned
British and American experts planned this attack. It was very challenging because the Gestapo offices were in university dorms. There were also civilian hospitals very close by on both sides. This meant the pilots had to be extremely precise to avoid hurting innocent people.
Practice Makes Perfect
To prepare, a full-size training area was drawn on the ground with chalk. The pilots chosen for the mission practiced their bombing runs twice before the actual raid. This helped them aim perfectly.
Bombing Strategy: Waves of Attack
The planners decided the attack would happen in four waves, about one minute apart.
- The first waves would drop regular bombs. These were meant to break open the buildings where the Gestapo offices were.
- The later waves would use incendiary bombs. These bombs cause fires, which would help destroy the Gestapo's important files and archives.
The bombs were set to explode 11 seconds after being dropped. This delay was important because the planes would be flying very low. Without the delay, the bombs could damage the aircraft that dropped them.
Timing the Attack for Success
The raid was planned for a workday, between 11:30 a.m. and noon. This timing was chosen carefully:
- Few Danish prisoners would be in the offices then. Most would have been taken back to their cells for lunch.
- Most Gestapo staff would be present and getting ready for their lunch break. This would maximize the number of German officers caught in the attack.
Planes and Escorts
Three squadrons provided 25 aircraft for the mission.
- 24 were Mosquito Mk.VI fighter-bombers.
- One was a Mosquito Mk. IV reconnaissance plane. This plane was from the Royal Air Force Film Production Unit and would film the raid.
Twelve Mustang Mk. III fighter planes from a Polish squadron would escort the bombers. Their job was to protect the bombers from German fighter planes. They would also create confusion by attacking smaller German targets in central Jutland. All planes carried extra fuel tanks for the long flight across the North Sea.
The pilots were not told their exact destination or target until their final briefing. This meeting happened at 8:00 a.m. on October 31.
Final Preparations
On October 30, the date and time for the raid were confirmed for the next day at 11:30 a.m. All the planes and crews gathered at the Swanton Morley airbase. At the final briefing, it was found that four of the Mustang fighters had broken parts. So, only eight Mustangs would go on the mission. At 8:40 a.m., the planes started taking off in pairs. By 9:20 a.m., all 33 aircraft were in the air.
The Bombing Attack
The attack force entered Jutland near the coast around 11:20 a.m. The Germans were alerted at 11:36 a.m. As planned, the Polish Mustang fighters broke off to create diversions. The Mosquito bombers continued towards Skanderborg.
At 11:38 a.m., the first wave of bombers reached their meeting point at Skanderborg Lake. The other three waves followed shortly after. While the other waves circled the lake, the first wave headed towards Aarhus. They reached Aarhus in about three minutes.
Bombs Away!
The crews saw the dorms where the Gestapo offices were located. They dropped about 4 tons of bombs. At 11:41 a.m., the first bombs exploded. Four minutes later, the second wave attacked, followed by the third and fourth waves, which used incendiary bombs to start fires.
The later waves faced anti-aircraft fire from the Germans. One Mosquito from the fourth wave was badly damaged. Instead of flying back to England, another Mosquito escorted it across the Kattegat (the sea between Denmark and Sweden). The damaged plane then flew alone to Sweden, landed safely, and was destroyed by its crew before they were taken in by Swedish authorities. The rest of the planes left Danish airspace between 12:16 p.m. and 12:34 p.m. About two hours later, they landed safely back in England.
What Happened After the Raid
The Danish underground (secret) press estimated that 150-200 Gestapo members and about 30 Danes died in the attack. A German report stated their losses from the offices were 39 people. This included 27 SS officers who worked for the Gestapo. The other 12 were German police office workers. Another 20 German soldiers died at the Langelandsgade barracks.
Prisoners Escape!
Three Danish resistance prisoners were being questioned inside the dorms during the attack. These were Ruth Philipsen, the resistance leader Harald Sandbæk, and a third prisoner. The third prisoner died in the attack. However, Philipsen and Sandbæk managed to escape in the confusion! Philipsen was mostly unharmed. Sandbæk was badly hurt and had to get secret medical help while hiding. Both of them soon reached safety in Sweden.
Damage and Impact
The bombing was very precise. It destroyed Dorms 4 and 5 and caused a lot of damage to the Langelandsgade barracks. However, some bombs did miss their targets. The university's main building, which was still being built, was accidentally hit. A bomb went through the halls, killing about ten construction workers and injuring the chief architect, C. F. Møller.
Most of the Gestapo's important files, including many about the Danish resistance, were destroyed in the attack. We don't know the full extent of the damage. But it's clear that losing these files and experienced staff greatly reduced the Gestapo's ability to operate effectively in Denmark. After the attack, the Gestapo actually sent almost twice as many agents to Denmark to try and make up for their losses.
See also
- Operation Carthage, a similar attack on Gestapo headquarters in Copenhagen, Denmark
- Operation Jericho, a similar attack on Amiens Prison in France
- Oslo Mosquito raid, a similar attack on Gestapo headquarters in Oslo, Norway
